Microsoft Excel is one of the most useful software programs that was written and distributed by the Microsoft Company. Excel is specifically designed to meet requirements of people of getting a tool that can help them to accomplish their tasks easily.

With Microsoft Excel, you can now produce, organize, manipulate and analyze data with the use of its powerful functions and formulas. With the use of these Excel functions and formulas, you can now perform simple and complicated tasks whether in your home or workplace. Excel is now considered as one of the essential tools in the society. Without this, you will surely find it difficult to cope with the increasing complexity of tasks in your everyday life.

Excel is also important in various fields like business, engineering, science and mathematics. When it comes to mathematics, MS Excel is equipped with mathematical functions that will allow you to perform simple calculations or even solve trigonometric problems. One of the trigonometric functions that is featured in Excel is the COS function. In general, it allows you to get the cosine of a given angle. To learn more about the COS function, it is better for you to read this article since it provides a basic description of the function and some examples that can help you to learn on how to use it.

Description of the COS Function in Excel

The COS Function in Microsoft Excel is used to compute for the cosine of a supplied angle measured in radians. The formula of the function is:

COS(Number)

As you can, the only argument in the formula is the “number” argument. This is the angle measured radians that you want to compute the cosine of.

Convert Degrees to Radians

If your angle is measured in degrees, you are required to convert it first into radians before you can supply it to the COS function. You can do this by using the RADIANS function in Excel. The formula of this function is:

RADIANS(Degrees)

Examples in Using the COS Function in Microsoft Excel

Here are some examples that will show you on how to use the COS function to compute for the cosine of supplied angles which are either in radians or degrees.

For example, 0.785398163 radians is contained in cell A1. Enter this formula in any cell where you want the result to appear, in cell B1 for example, =COS(0.785398163). The function will return the result which is 0.707106781.

Let’s say ?/6 radians is contained in cell A2. You should remember that also need to use the PI function in Excel and formula must be written in this way, =COS(PI()/6). The function will return the result which is 0.866025404.

Now, let’s use the COS function with angles measured in degrees. As an example, 60 degrees is contained in cell A3. The formula must be entered in any cell in this way, =COS(RADIANS(60)). The function will return the result which is 0.5.

Here’s another one, -30 degrees is contained in cell A4. Type in this formula in any cell where you want the result to appear, =COS(RADIANS(-30)). The function will return the result which is 0.866025404.

The best way to learn more about the usage of the COS function is to try these examples in your blank Excel spreadsheet.